Would You Drink Fake Cow’s Milk Made from Genetically Engineered Yeast?

Fake cow’s milk will be hitting the shelves next year. Muufri is a new animal-free milk cooked up by bioengineers from genetically engineered yeast. Unlike soy, rice or almond milk, Muufri was developed to replicate the taste and health benefits of cow’s milk, except it’s completely vegan.

Muufri was started by two vegan bioengineers from California, Perumal Gandhi and Ryan Pandya, who have set out to create a viable milk alternative that would appeal to non-vegans. Although soy, rice and almond milk products are popular, the general population tends to steer clear of them, both because they are more expensive than regular milk, but also because the taste is different. Muufri hopes their product will be similar enough to milk that it will inspire the general population to switch to plant-based alternatives.

Being vegans, the pair were inspired to develop Muufri to help combat conditions in industrial dairy farms, which are cramped, cold, and packed with cows being pumped full of growth hormones and antibiotics. In the lab, Gandhi and Pandya developed a process that is similar to producing insulin to make a protein-rich drink from yeast. The milk alternative contains 87 percent water, and six proteins and eight fatty acids that will give it the full, rich flavor that cow’s milk has. Muufri will also have added vitamins and minerals to attain the health benefits associated with cow’s milk.